January 17, 2014 - As part of its ongoing
investigation into an incident involving a
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 that landed at
the wrong airport on January 12 in Missouri, the
National Transportation Safety Board today
released a brief investigative update.

The NTSB reported that on Tuesday, the flight
data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from
the Southwest aircraft arrived in the NTSB
laboratory and were prepared for readout and
analysis. The FDR recorded approximately 1000
parameters and contained approximately 27 hours
of recorded data. Investigators have begun to
analyze the data.

In addition, the CVR contained two-hours of good
quality recording. According to the CVR, the
Southwest crew was informed by air traffic
control that they were 15 miles from their
intended target, which was Branson Airport.

The crew responded that they had the airfield in
sight and ATC cleared the aircraft for a visual
approach and landing on runway 14 at Branson
Airport. According to the CVR, the landing was
uneventful and it was not until shortly after
landing that the crew realized they had landed
at the wrong airport. On Thursday, January 16,
the two pilots and a Southwest dispatcher who
was riding in the jump seat were interviewed by
NTSB investigators.

The captain has been with Southwest since 1999
and has about 16,000 flight hours including
about 6,700 hours as a captain on the B-737. The
captain informed investigators that this was his
first flight into Branson Airport.

The first officer has been with Southwest since
2001 and has about 25,000 flight hours. The
first officer informed investigators that he had
previously flown into Branson Airport one time,
but during daylight hours. During the
interviews, the pilots told investigators that
the approach had been programmed into their
flight management system, but that they first
saw the airport beacon and the runway lights of
M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport, located in
Hollister, Mo., which they mistakenly identified
as Branson Airport.

They cited the bright runway lights at M. Graham Clark
Downtown Airport and the fact that the runway was
oriented in a similar direction. They also informed
investigators that they flew a visual approach into what
they believed to be Branson Airport and that they did
not realize they were at the wrong airport until they
had landed. They confirmed that they utilized heavy
braking to bring the aircraft to a stop and then advised
the Branson Airport tower that they had landed at the
wrong airport.